ANNANDALE-ON-HUDSON, N.Y.—The Continuing Studies Program (CSP) at Bard College will offer ten courses this fall. The courses will begin on Wednesday, August 30, and continue through Friday, December 15. Cabaret, figure drawing, hieroglyphics, literature, mathematics, method acting, photography, social work, and writing will be explored in the weekly courses. Students may either enroll for credit or audit the courses. All the courses are four credits. Applications for registration should be received by the CSP office by Wednesday, August 30, accompanied by a $30 registration fee.

Once Upon a Time: The Folktales of the Brothers Grimm, a close reading of selected tales with emphasis on language, plot, motif, and image, aims at an understanding of the tales as the Grimms intended them. There will also be an examination of major critical approaches (e.g., Freudian, Jungian, Marxist, feminist), as well as a contrastive analysis of creative adaptations (Disney, classical ballet, postmodern dance) and other fairy-tale traditions (e.g., Perrault, Straparola, Arabian Nights). The course, taught by Franz Kempf, professor of German, Bard College, will meet on Tuesdays, from 6:00 to 8:20 p.m.

Fundamentals of Literary Criticism will be taught by Justus Rosenberg, professor of languages and literature at Bard College, on Tuesdays, from 7:00 to 9:20 p.m. The course provides a study of the most important and popular approaches to literary criticism—traditional, formalistic, psychological, mythological, feminist, Marxist—through close examination of selected literary texts of various genres, each one of which is viewed from these different perspectives. Authors include Shakespeare, Dostoyevski, Baudelaire, T. S. Eliot, Kafka, and Beckett.

An Introduction to the Classical Egyptian Language (Hieroglyphic writing) will be taught by Luis Perez, adjunct professor of classics at Bard College, on Wednesdays, from 7:00 to 9:20 p.m. The course will provide an introduction to the history, culture, and language of ancient Egypt with an emphasis on the language (its grammar and syntax). Each session includes a discussion of the history, art, and literature (in translation) of dynastic Egypt from 4000 B.C.E. through the end of the eighteenth dynasty, c. 1350 B.C.E. Focusing on the classical Egyptian language using the Egyptian Grammar of Sir Alan Gardiner, students learn not only syntax but how to read and write classical Egyptian hieroglyphics. At the end of the course, students should be able to continue learning on their own.

Robert Seder, associate of the Institute of Writing and Thinking at Bard College, will lead a Writer's Workshop: Nonfiction Prose on Wednesdays, from 7:00 to 9:20 p.m. This workshop helps students develop and refine their prose voice through personal and analytical essays. Each week students present a new or revised essay for consideration in the workshop, which offers a respectful but challenging place in which to practice the craft and learn from readers how writing is heard. Any factor affecting the work of writing, from the intimidation of the blank page (How will I ever fill it?) to the satisfaction of a finished draft (Is it time to move on?), is open for discussion. Readings of essays accompany the writing assignments.

Christie Chinwe Achebe, visiting professor of psychology at Bard College, will teach the course Introduction to Counseling Theories and Social Work, on Wednesdays, from 7:00 to 9:20 p.m. This course is an overview of selected counseling models and their potential for wide application to normal developmental issues by counselors and social workers, and for self-counseling. The class examines the models in the context of their historical or intellectual origins, looking in particular for what they deal with best and aspects that have been kept outside their scope, especially in the context of the increasing demographic diversity in U.S. schools. Approaches explored include psychoanalytic (Sigmund Freud), person-centered (Carl Rogers), Adlerian therapy (Alfred Adler), reality therapy (William Glasser), behavior therapy (Lazarus), cognitive behavior therapy (Albert Ellis), and family systems (Minuchin).

A Workshop in Method Acting will be taught by Naomi Thornton, visiting professor of theater at Bard College, on Thursdays, from 6:00 to 9:20 p.m. The workshop is designed to help students, beginning or advanced, feel comfortable in front of an audience and achieve spontaneity and freedom. Acting skills are taught with an emphasis on relaxation, concentration, and focus. Some group exercises and improvisations are undertaken, but individual attention is stressed. Dramatic materials include scenes, monologues, and poetry. The more advanced students will proceed to character work, text analysis, consideration of time and space, and the development of a classical role.

A Journey Through Genius will be taught by Robert Vivona on Thursdays, from 7:00 to 9:20 p.m. This mathematics course is designed for those who are more interested in the nature of mathematical thought and how mathematics has developed historically than in working in mathematics. However, the students necessarily do some mathematics during the course. Covered will be a selection of important mathematical theorems, from the classical Greek era through the nineteenth century, including a discussion of imaginative ideas involved in their proofs; the historical setting in which the theorem occurred, including ideas that proceeded it and its effect on subsequent mathematical ideas; and the personalities of the mathematicians responsible for the theorems. Prerequisites: a knowledge of basic algebra and a willingness to investigate new mathematical ideas.

Douglas Baz will teach an Introduction to Photography/Photo II on Thursdays, from 7:00 to 9:20 p.m. This introductory course covers the basic techniques and aesthetics of photography. Students investigate the basic functions of the camera, how the camera sees the world, and how to translate that language into one's own vision. Black-and-white darkroom procedures and techniques are introduced. After basic technical issues have been covered through a series of shooting assignments, each student's specific interest within the medium is explored by pursuing an individual project. Classes are then spent viewing and discussing each student's work in progress. Recent and classic work from the history of photography is woven into the discussion of individual projects. Students who have already taken this course (or one at a similar level) and wish to continue their investigation of the medium meet separately for the first four to five weeks of the semester. Students may work in any format of their choosing—35mm, 2 1/4, or 4 x 5—and must provide their own manually adjustable camera. A $70 darkroom fee is charged in addition to tuition.

On Thursdays, from 6:00 to 8:20 p.m. Come Hear the Music Play—The History and Sociology of Cabaret will be taught by Anita Micossi. Say "cabaret" and you evoke the decadent fleshpots of Sally Bowles's Berlin or dimly lit jewel-box nightclubs where elegant women sing Cole Porter. But, from it's inception in pre-World War I Paris, Vienna, and Berlin, the cabaret was a prime gathering place for social and political dissidents and the artistic avant-garde, including Picasso, Kokoschka, Kafka, Brecht, Wedekind, and Satie. Through lectures, readings, discussions, films, and recordings, this course examines the historical roots and social, political, and artistic functions of cabaret on both sides of the Atlantic. Cabaret's role in modern art, social revolution, and the emergence of the twentieth century city is also investigated. The golden age of cabaret in New York—its stars, entertainments, and kinship with Broadway and Tin Pan Alley—is explored. The study of today's Manhattan club scene may include field trips and guest presentations by performers, directors, and cabaret impresarios. The course welcomes students of history and sociology at all levels, individuals with a general interest in social history or twentieth-century performance and art forms, and lovers of cabaret.

Cheryl Wheat will teach Figure Drawing on Saturdays, from 10:00 a.m. to 1:00 p.m. Through lectures, slide presentations, and demonstrations, students learn the fundamental ideas embodied in contemporary, modern, and old-master drawings. Some of the topics covered are scale, proportions and geometry of the figure, gesture and contraposto, uses of line and phrasing, cross contours, hatching, chiaroscuro, and the development of three-dimensional volumes from two-dimensional enclosures. This course emphasizes the figure in terms of composition. Students are introduced to a wide range of aesthetic ideas and encouraged to develop a personal vision. A variety of drawing materials are employed—chalk, graphite, pen and ink, wash, silverpoint and mixed media—with an emphasis on charcoal. Students draw from a model during all sessions, beginning with shorter poses and moving on to longer, more sustained studies.

Tuition for courses is $314 per credit hour; or $378 per course for auditors. For further information or to register, call the Continuing Studies Program at Bard College at 845-758-7508, e-mail becker@bard.edu, or visit their website at http://inside.bard.edu/csp/.